


SCENE STEALERS

by CB97peRcent



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 2 of the 3racha being little shits, Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Designer!Reader, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Everybody has a crush on TA!Chan, F/M, I will update tags as I go along, Impostor Syndrome, Podcast, Podcast Hosts!3RACHA, Self-Doubt, Smut, career choices, what is a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:14:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29852406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CB97peRcent/pseuds/CB97peRcent
Summary: As an aspiring producer, you're auditing some classes from the College of Music. As much as you're trying to fight it, you find yourself falling for one of the TAs, Chris (a.k.a everyone's crush Channie boy), who also co-hosts a podcast.a.k.a 3RACHA decides to start a talk show podcast featuring indie artists and events ensue (feat. all kinds of 3RACHA shenanigans).
Relationships: Bang Chan/Reader, Bang Chan/Seo Changbin/Reader, Seo Changbin/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. Episode #1: Start Line

The night was a bit chilly, but you enjoyed it. Much like the nighttime itself…

This spot had always been your favorite. Whenever you went for a walk, you would always end up here by the river. Your hands on the bridge rails, the cool breeze lightly brushing your face, you were marveling at the most amazing neon picture drawn on the river by the city lights. You closed your eyes and listened to the chatter of the people behind you, reaching you in a very hushed tone. At this very spot, it always felt like life’s volume was turned down to a level that’s not irritating, allowing you an escape from your daily internal struggles. This was the only place you could find a little serenity.

It wasn’t that you were a recluse. You just seemed so cold from the outside that people felt intimidated by you. You, being the official spokesperson for awkwardness, never knew how to approach people first. If only you could wear a t-shirt saying “Please don’t be scared. I’m actually friendly.” This is how your night walks at absurd hours became a habit – to fill that friend-shaped void in your life.

…and to enjoy some other form of freedom that no one knows about.

You were a junior in college studying graphic design. You were always doodling something for as long as you remembered. Lines, shapes, and colors were like your second nature. People always highly praised your work, and kept telling you how you would be a great artist someday. An idea would just come to you, and you would effortlessly bring it to life. For you, it was that easy. Given your inclinations at the time, making a living out of it seemed pretty logical.

“I swear to god… Whose brilliant idea was it to force people to make career choices at freaking 18?!”

You were crippled with this thought lately. Did you make a mistake? Is it too late to change your major? Is it too much work to start all over again?

Most importantly, is it worth all that hassle?

You always loved music – to the extent that it would ruin your day if you forgot your earphones at home. But it wasn’t until two years ago that your perception towards music changed. In your first year, you attended a jam session of the Music Production department, and that night basically changed your life. All you could think about was ‘Look at them go!’. The people you watched were so passionate about their craft that it was contagious.

That moment marked the official beginning of your affair with music. It started off as a stress-relieving outlet where you experimented a lot, but as time went by you found yourself turning into a self-taught producer. Your affair had turned into such a serious relationship that you were racking your brains out to find a way to break the news to your spouse: design.

It wasn’t that you hated graphic design; you still liked it. But you were noticing that you weren’t half as excited about typography as beat making. To make things worse, there was another problem. A much bigger one.

You didn’t have an **_ounce_ **of confidence when it came to music. The glory of the design god was mere dust compared to the crippling self-doubt of “I most probably suck at this”.

You kept toying with the idea of publishing your stuff online, but you were terrified of receiving bad reviews. It was the Internet anyway, who has a shred of mercy, right? Your anxiety was at such a level that you were constantly wrapped in impostor syndrome, thinking your work is not good enough, not worth listening to. Even if you decided to release your work one day, you swore to do it under a pseudonym that didn’t reveal your gender. For some reason, you feared that people wouldn’t take your music seriously if they knew who you were.

You kept hanging around the College of Music to “pick up” stuff: You attended workshops, seminars, mini-concerts, end-of-semester shows, anything. You were even auditing classes. Okay, that god-awful Music Theory class was only bearable thanks to the incredibly hot TA with an Aussie accent, but hey, you were making an effort, right?

That TA, though… That pale-skinned TA with the blonde locks, who probably holds an Olympus passport… The singular highlight of your weeks, and the ultimate study motivation…

Come on, who the heck has a photoshopped body in real life?!

You were so nervous around him that you managed to spend an entire semester without being able to ask a single question. This caused you to pull so many all-nighters at the library to catch up. You might as well have lived there!

The TA in question was Chan Christopher Bang and half the college had a crush on him. Chris was an absolute sweetheart, always with a warm smile on his face, patiently listening to people, and lending a hand to everyone every chance he got. However, he was either massively clueless, or owned a black belt in avoiding advances on him. He was never spotted with anyone besides the long line of people crowding his office hours. You were pretty sure at some point someone mentioned him as “community property”. Whenever he was off his TA duties, he could be found at the college studio. It was very plausible that he was indeed happily married to music.

Chan’s clique consisted of two more people: The official Dark Boy™ of the department, Seo “Bin the Sin” Changbin, and his best friend Han Jisung. Since everything about these boys was shrouded in mystery, naturally the whole school knew about them.

Chris and Changbin were living together at Changbin’s apartment. Changbin was both chill and rich as fuck, and he took no shit from people. He would cut you if you tried to be snarky, and would die for his “squad”, as he called it. Changbin flunked a year in school, and he was currently in the same year as Jisung. Jisung, on the other hand, was an absolute goofball. He could easily become a professional comedian, but at the same time he was the king of being dramatic, and was frequently spotted “in his feels”. When it came to Changbin and Jisung, nothing made sense to you since there couldn’t be a starker difference between two people. Changbin was the one to introduce Jisung and Chan, and the infamous “Scene Stealers” a.k.a 3RACHA trio was born.

One night, after listening to the final tracks students submitted for the Music Production Analysis class, a heated discussion about indie artists ensued:

“Are you LISTENING to this shit? Some of this stuff is so mind-blowing, I’m about to lose my mind here. Who the fuck cares about their paper when they can produce something THIS good?!”

“Shame on you hyung. What kind of language is this for a fucking TA?” Changbin smirked.

“Hey, I’m off duty. Let me blow off some steam in my own apartment, yeah?”

Jisung chimed in on a more serious note. “But imagine if we had a platform like this. We’re just students, we’re not signed to any label. Who would even take us seriously and play our stuff?”

A vague smile appeared on Chan’s lips. “You know, I was actually kind of hoping you’d say that.”

“No. Absolutely not,” said Changbin in protest. “I’m not paying for your radio station, do it yourself. Look what happened when I sponsored your apartment. Our friendship was almost over!”

“First of all, you love me. Second of all, what do you mean sponsor? You own this apartment, and I pay rent to you.”

“YOU HAVEN’T WASHED A GODDAMN CUP IN THREE FUCKING WEEKS!” Changbin roared.

“Still the cup thing, huh?” Jisung replied. “It wouldn’t kill you to at least soak it hyung, you know. For the sake of your marriage?”

“I want a divorce,” Chris retorted. “Anyway, check this out. I’ve been lowkey fantasizing about hosting a radio show called ‘Chan’s Room’, and feature indie and aspiring musicians on it. No genre restrictions. You bring the good stuff, I bring the platform, everybody’s happy!”

“Well, you do have great taste,” said Changbin taking a sip from his beer. “Just so we’re clear, if you’re taking calls, I’m calling every single show and embarrassing you.”

“Hold up!” Suddenly, Jisung sat up in his chair. “This could actually work! Why not make it a podcast? I mean it’s super easy to set up. You already have a fanbase at school, so there’s your audience.”

For the first time that night, Changbin looked enthused. “Maybe we can guest on it from time to time? You know, talk about music stuff.”

Chris was smiling from ear to ear at this point. “Why not be on it with me?”

“Like your co-hosts?” said Jisung, eyes wide.

“Yeah. We could do it like a talk show. It doesn’t have to be strictly music-related. We can just shoot the shit, and play some good stuff in between. What do you say the apple of my eye?” Chris looked at Changbin, batting lashes at him exaggeratedly.

Changbin sighed. “Fine. Let the record show that I’m agreeing to the divorce.”

“YEAH! This is exciting!” Jisung exclaimed with a loud clap. “Although we might have totally hijacked the show just now.”

“I guess we'll be the scene stealers from now on,” Changbin scoffed, gulping the rest of his beer. Jisung and Chris looked at each other for a split second, and Chris smacked Changbin’s shoulder with all his might.

“THANK YOU for coming up with the name of our show! I won’t ask for alimony, I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> This fic was a 5 AM thought. I've always wanted to write one, but ironically enough never had the courage to do so. I hope you can forgive the mistakes here and there.  
> Hope you enjoy and STAY around ^^


	2. Episode #2: Artist Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was only about 10 minutes or so before someone walked into the studio and scared the shit out of you.  
> “Oh, I’m so sorry. I just assumed the studio would be empty since it’s the weekend. I didn’t even look at the signup sheet.”
> 
> 'Holy fuck, it’s Chris!'

You did this every single semester. At the beginning you would be so enthusiastic that you’d sign up for a shitload of classes as if you were hopped up on Adderall, only to find out that you bit more than you could chew. It would be easier to withdraw from a couple to have a humane workload, but your academic reputation was on the line. If it weren’t for the additional music classes you were auditing, you wouldn’t be this swamped. Luckily, you weren’t officially enrolled in those, so your GPA wouldn’t take a hit.

That being said, as soon as you were done with your classes in your own department, you spent almost all your time at the College of Music. You would reserve studio sessions whenever you could since you weren’t fully geared up at your place. Sometimes you would be so absorbed in your work that you would lose the track of time, and the support staff would politely insinuate that you needed to leave by reminding you that it got dark outside.

Even the people at the cafeteria were familiar with your usual order by now: Large black coffee. Medium roast. And a scone – usually peach. It didn’t matter to you that you were hanging out here by yourself. Sometimes you would just complete whatever work you have due, and – although you weren’t actually proud of it – sometimes you would listen in on people’s conversations. That’s how you learned about that gigantic record store that also sold equipment.

Your favorite time of the semester had always been the syllabus week. Zero hassle, just introductions, and plenty of time to get your plan for the semester in order. After you completed your schedule for the day, you headed straight to the College of Music cafeteria with an odd feeling of anticipation, and took your usual seat by the window. You would never admit this out loud, but every time you stepped through the front door, you were secretly hoping you would run into Chris somewhere. It wasn’t like you were going to strike up a conversation with him, but every time you saw him, something you named _The Chris Bang Phenomenon_ would occur. It was an inexplicable feeling accompanying to the butterflies in your stomach: a gigantic wave of ideas would wash over you, and you would find yourself frantically looking for something to take notes on. It was as if the man was on pro-bono “muse duty”. Chris being ultra fine was just a huge bonus.

“Is this seat taken?”

You were startled by the raspy voice suddenly waking you up from your thoughts. A guy clad in head-to-toe black and a blank look on his face had his hand on the chair opposite you.

“No, go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

He dragged the chair to a table away from you with a loud noise. A move that was usually perceived as rude managed to elicit adoring sighs from several people in the cafeteria. This guy could step on them, and they would thank him in return.

That was Seo Changbin for you.

After Changbin left, the group sitting at the table in front of you started a conversation.

“Hey Jamie, have you listened to the latest ‘Scene Stealers’?”

Scene Stealers? Was this an album or something?

“You know it! I gotta tell you Bam, this became hands down my favorite podcast.”

“I know, right? Fucking amazing!”

A podcast, huh?

You thought there must be a reason these people were so hyped, and proceeded to search for it online.

“I’ve never heard of this. What’s this ‘Scene Stealers’?”

The Jamie girl replied. “You gotta give it a listen guys. It’s like a radio show; the hosts talk and play some music in between. The comment section is hilarious.”

“I know, right? I love their banter. SpearB has no chill.”

“What kind of music do they play?” a guy asked.

The Bam guy continued, “A little bit of everything. They occasionally play their own recommendations of course, but they mainly choose among the tracks underground or aspiring artists submit to them. They also give feedback on request. It’s pretty cool.”

“Wow, really? I wanna submit something too! How come we’ve never heard of this?”

“It’s kind of on the down-low,” Jamie replied. “Bam is firmly against ‘diluting the audience’, so currently only hardcore production nerds of the department know about it.”

“Oh, come ON, Jamie! We finally have a legit platform for us, and you know damn well what’s gonna happen if the thirsty fans find out about it. And quite frankly, nobody wants to see ‘OMG, let me swim in those dimples’ when I can get constructive criticism about my work.”

“Chill a little, will you?” Jamie scoffed. “It’s a fucking podcast, not a ‘strictly producers only’ club. And you’re the one to talk! You literally commented ‘Slap me with that soundboard’ last episode!”

“It’s called a knowledge crush. I idolize these people, okay?”

You had to admit, the back-and-forth between these two was quite funny.

And there it was, the Twitter account for _Scene Stealers_. The podcast started around three months ago. The live show was on every Friday at midnight, and there was a playlist for the previous episodes, as well.

At that moment, another person at the table raised a legitimate question. “She has a point, you know. If the podcast is so ‘producer-exclusive’, how come Jamie knows about it? Weren’t you in the voice department?”

“Bam told me about it. He’s like Changbin’s biggest fanboy.”

“Jamie!”

“What? These people are our peeps. They’re not gonna spam your precious comment section, don’t worry.”

“Wait. Are you talking about THE Seo Changbin? He’s one of the hosts?!” Apparently, this was another fanboy of Changbin’s.

“Oh fuck, you’re one of the thirsty ones, too? I got ONE thing that I like in my entire life. Please don’t take this away from me, I beg you!”

“Hey, I mean he does have the looks and all, but it’s not about that. I’ve been following his stuff for years now. I’d love to listen to him!”

When you looked up, you saw Jamie giving Bam an evil smirk, and she continued in a somewhat hushed tone. “Oh, it’s not just Changbin. The other two hosts are Jisung and Chris.”

Following Jamie’s declaration, there was palpable excitement at the table. Bam was clearly upset that Jamie revealed this information.

CHRIS HAD A PODCAST?!

“Fine, FINE! Everybody listen to me right now, I’m dead serious. PLEASE keep this to yourselves, okay? This is my one request from you as your friend.”

Everyone gave their word in agreement, but it was a bit funny how there was such a fuss about something as simple as a podcast. One would think Bam was trying to avoid jail for committing espionage.

Another girl at the table asked, “Isn’t it a bit odd that Channie boy didn’t tell you about this himself, Jamie? I mean you guys tell each other everything. Speaking of which, how about YOU tell me something, like his phone number, hm?”

“Well, what the man does with his time doesn’t concern me. But his privacy does, so, no. Ask him yourself.”

There was a disappointed grunt from the girls at the table, and you involuntarily snorted as you were drinking your coffee. Damn, this Jamie girl was savage, and you definitely liked her. When you looked up you met her eyes, and she gave you a look that said, “Am I right or what?”

The podcast on Friday nights was so going on your calendar.

* * *

“Of course, not everything in our catalog will be great. We will look back on our earlier work from time to time and think ‘Was I high or something when I came up with this stuff?’ For example, SpearB my man, what the hell were you thinking writing this song?”

It was finally Friday, and you were out on one of your night walks. You started listening to the podcast as you were headed to the river. This was definitely Chris’ voice ringing in your ear.

“CB, you know I respect you, but for the love of god, when will this clowning end?”

“When you can go back in time, and slap yourself on the face with a chair for mentioning fucking Shrek in your lyrics, hyung.”

“And that, everyone, was J.One being the sound of reason once again. Applause please.”

For the first time in a long while, you found yourself genuinely laughing. You would never dream of approaching this trio in real life because their popularity intimidated the shit out of you, but here they were, inviting you to listen in on their conversation. Even though the “Stealers” did not know you, you felt like you were making friends.

Chris continued, “Okay, okay. All jokes aside, once again I want to thank everyone for their submissions for tonight’s episode. It’s a beautiful night with a clear sky tonight, so your tracks definitely helped us set the mood.”

Jisung added, “And since there’s also a full moon, we are fully equipped to repel SpearB once he turns into a werewolf, so no worries.”

Chris and Jisung roared with laughter, but Changbin wasn’t having it.

“So, this turned into a SpearB Roast Special real fast, I see. I’ll start keeping a tab for all this booze you’re downing, and EVERYTHING is considered bottle service. Get that cash ready when this episode ends.”

“Sure Jan”.

The laughter finally died down, and by then you had already reached for your spot by the river. You kept listening watching the sky filled to the brim with stars. Chris continued in your earphones with a more serious tone.

“No, but seriously though. There is something about the night sky, the moon and the stars that utterly fascinates me. I don’t know what it is, but I’m just in love with it. There might be people afraid of the nighttime, but it actually gives me a strange feeling of safety.”

‘Stars…’, you thought. ‘He’s in love with the stars.’

“And with that note, I’d like to play my recommendation for tonight: ‘Two melodies’ by Zion.T and Crush. We’ll be back after this.”

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, taking in the soft notes playing in your ear. At that moment – surprise, surprise – you thought of an idea for a digital drawing study. You sprung up from your seat, and headed back to your place with hasty steps, thinking about the outline the whole way back.

* * *

You set up your equipment on your desk with the podcast still playing in the background. Tonight’s theme was going to be watercolor splash art.

Jisung’s first serious comment of the night started echoing in your room. “I think at this point we should talk about artist identity and its reflection. This is not to say that our exact personality is projected on our work, of course.”

“Adding up on that…”, said Changbin, “There is a saying that goes as, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘The true test of character is what you do when no one’s watching’, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s not that we _have to_ show this side of ours in our craft. I don’t think we even intend to, but it somehow forces itself out.”

Chris added up on that, “You may also create and embrace a persona that is the polar opposite of your personality. Maybe there are things that you crave to do or say, but you’re somehow afraid to take action. Be it fear of judgement, dislike, or disapproval.”

“Or you might be using your outlet to let go of some pent up stuff because therapy is expensive,” The guys let out a small chuckle at Changbin’s comment. “For example, I never talk about my dysfunctional family issues with people outside of my closest circle, but it did come up in a couple of songs.”

“And I get that,” said Chris. “I might be slightly hating myself for prioritizing music over personal matters, including my brother. I mean I love him to death, but it’s like I’m so busy with music work that I feel guilty for not being able to spare some time to talk to him? I don’t know, does this make me a bad person?”

“Aww, our CB can never do wrong, can he? Come on people, keep it real for once, will you?” Changbin chastised the entire audience following their stream of consolation comments. “Yes, it does you asshat, call him. I will put up reminders everywhere and personally harass you.”

“I feel horrible for saying this, but please do. I’ll owe you one. J.One, your most recent track seems to talk about alienation. Care to elaborate on that?”

“Well, I do have a pretty laidback personality, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have feelings. I joke around to mask my vulnerability, but I think I’m doing it wrong.”

“What do you mean?” asked Chris.

“People seem to think this is me all the time: the guy that keeps cracking jokes, doesn’t get offended and immune to sadness. That’s why I feel like I’m not taken seriously from time to time, and that actually hurts me. I mean, personality is not something set it stone; it has layers and it’s complex. I’ve been having a hard time trying to navigate these layers, and at one point it felt like it’s chipping away at who I am. I felt like a fraud, and that’s how the song came about.”

The only thing that followed Jisung’s heartfelt answer was silence. It was like Jisung somehow managed to tap into your brain and narrated your thoughts. When it came to this whole music ordeal, your apprehensive attitude towards people, your past experiences… You _were_ feeling like a fraud in a lot of stuff. You wished you could give Jisung a warm hug at that moment. Simply sending a comment wasn’t going to cut it.

Changbin was the one who eventually broke the silence.

“I’m only going to say this once. We love who you are with all the layers and shit, you do know that, right?” There was a rustling sound with another brief silence after this.

Jisung let out a small chuckle. “Alright, ALRIGHT, you can get off me! Let the record show that Spear is not getting any more booze tonight. Let’s get some insight from our audience now, shall we? Anyone involved in something that doesn’t quite match with how people see them? Doesn’t have to be related to music.”

All kinds of stories were pouring in now, and the Stealers were reading them one by one. Jisung’s “personality layers” comment rang in your ears once again. You mustered up the courage and finally submitted your answer.

“User _VerseKiller_ commented that they… tag walls? Wow!” Changbin seemed impressed.

“Anything we might have seen?” asked Chris. You replied:

> **_VerseKiller: If you’ve been around the riverbank where the jogging and bike paths are, you might have seen it. The pieces around that area are mine._ **

Jisung shouted, “Wait, you’re the one that made the “Step Out” piece on the bike trail?!”

> **_VerseKiller: Yes, that’s me._ **

“I would like to take this opportunity to say that I fucking LOVE your work!”

You were shocked. Sometimes you tagged walls (and some other times did floor graffiti) during your nighttime walks. There was a certain amount of thrill and feeling of freedom that came with it, but you didn’t do it for some kind of “cred”. It was just a form of expression for you. When you finished a piece, you’d just take a photo, and that was it. You wouldn’t even upload it anywhere.

But to think that someone saw it AND liked it AND was complimenting you for it? Unfuckingbelievable. 

> **_VerseKiller: I have a question for you. You guys seem to be doing music for a while now. Have you ever felt like you’re not good enough? I do feel like sending you some tracks, but I’m not so sure._ **

Changbin read the question and answered, “LMAO it me”.

“You didn’t just say “LMAO” and "it me" in a verbal conversation,” Jisung retorted.

Chris continued with a reassuring tone, “As it happens to all of us, and I mean ALL of us, I’m here to tell you that your anxiety is lying to you. It doesn’t have anything to do with how long you’ve been making music. Please do submit your track! We’d love to give it a listen.”

> **_VerseKiller: Will do some time. Thank you!_ **

“And this concludes tonight’s episode. Thank you everyone for joining us tonight. We’ll see ya next Friday!”

When the show ended, you were left with a fuzzy feeling in your stomach. It was way past the midnight, and you were astounded to notice that time flew by so fast. In the meantime, you finished your watercolor piece: it was a compass illustration layered on a galaxy background. The needle pointed to South in a distinct bright purple color. Instead of a signature, you just wrote “For C” at the bottom right corner. You saved the file after naming it “Broken Compass”, and cleared up your workspace.

* * *

The sky was crystal clear that Saturday. You inhaled the cool morning air into your lungs and slowly let it out with a smile on your face.

You had reserved a studio session at the department for the weekend, and the timing couldn’t be more appropriate. After last night’s show, you head was about to explode with ideas, and you just had to let it out immediately. You usually preferred the weekends to let the “actual” music students work on their stuff – how thoughtful of you. You grabbed your usual coffee-scone combo on your way. Going in, you greeted the on-call support staff, and settled in.

It was only about 10 minutes or so before someone walked into the studio and scared the shit out of you.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I just assumed the studio would be empty since it’s the weekend. I didn’t even look at the signup sheet.”

_Holy fuck, it’s Chris!_

Inside, you were screaming your lungs out, but on the outside, you were just blankly staring at the man by the door, blond hair and pale skin in stark contrast with his oversized black hoodie. Oh, what you wouldn’t give to be that hoodie right now, hugging his insanely gorgeous figure. You weren’t quite sure if you were still dreaming.

“Sorry, I’ll lea…”

“It’s… It’s okay! I mean there’s room if you’d like to work here.”

“Yeah? Sure it’s no problem?”

“It’s fine”, you say with a little smile.

He flashed a smile back at you, and proceeded to setup by the space next to you. Your heart was beating so dangerously fast that you were scared he was going to hear it. As he sat down, the intoxicating smell of his cologne hit your nose. Apparently, today was going to be the ultimate test of your willpower.

_Oh, I’m royally fucked._

After the initial shock, you managed to calm down and started focusing on your work. You were pouring out all your ideas randomly to rearrange them later on. Chris was just sitting in his chair, not even moving, but you kept getting distracted by his mere existence. There was something about him being so focused on his work with furrowed brows that was incredibly attractive. As much as you tried ignoring him, his cologne was making you acutely aware of his presence. Every time his hands moved on his keyboard, you kept noticing his veins, prompting you to wonder what those fingers were capable of doing.

_Focus, woman!_

Chris stretched with a groan, and you darted your eyes back to your own screen. He put on an impeccable façade, but in reality, his mind was scattered, too. You could swear he was shooting you stolen looks from time to time. After what seemed like forever to you, you took out your headphones to rest your ears a bit.

“You know, if you add a bassline that could totally change the atmosphere of the song.”

What was up with this man today, almost giving you heart attacks like this?

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Was the volume too loud?”

Chris shot another smile that absolutely melted you, “No, it’s totally fine. What are you working on?

He asked the question you dreaded the most. You? Talking about your work with THE Chris Bang? That was rich.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Well, you do realize I heard a large portion of the song anyway, right? It’s pretty dope.”

WHAT?

You were mortified that you didn’t realize this sooner, and pretty sure that you were red as a beet. But, did he also just pay you a compliment?

“May I listen to it in a humane volume this time?”

You agreed. As you were unplugging your headphones, Chris pulled his chair closer to you, and started listening intently once you hit play. You were looking at his face, trying to read his expression, but no dice. When the track finished, Chris met your gaze.

“May I suggest something? It’s totally fine if you say no.”

“Please, go ahead!”

“Actually, here let me show you.”

The proximity pinned you to your seat. It took all your strength to restrain yourself from touching his hair. Was that a whiff of peach you were noticing?

“The bassline I mentioned. If we align this here…”

Chris leaning in like this sent a shot of arousal to your lower stomach, and you were trying your hardest to repress it. You were on the brink of giving in to the urge of closing the distance completely, and just dive into his lips. You weren’t able to form a single coherent thought. All that invaded your mind was the extremely graphic scenes of what you wanted to do to him, and his moans were practically ringing in your ears at this point.

Chris pulled you back to earth by hitting play, clearing the haze of your fantasies in an instant. He _was_ right, though. This addition completely changed the atmosphere of the song. This version sounded more…

“Powerful, right?”

“I think it’s safe to say I want to punch a wall right now.”

You said that for two different reasons, but Chris gave a hearty laugh.

“That’s a very cool hoodie by the way. Where’d you get it?”

“Thank you! This was a gift from my brother. He does custom stuff like this from time to time.”

“Oh, is he a student here, too?”

“No, he’s all the way back in Australia. I barely see him to be honest. Our brotherhood is sponsored by Skype these days.”

You suddenly remembered his comments from last night about his brother, and how you felt the pain when he said, ‘Does this make me a bad person?’.

Chris was looking at you, almost studying you with furrowed brows and his index finger pressed on his cheekbone. “You look familiar. Have I seen you around before?”

Your breath caught in your throat for a second. How was it possible that he remembered you?

“I took the Music Theory class two years ago in Spring semester, and you were the TA. That’s the only occasion I can think of.”

“Oh, the girl with the camouflage hoodie, right?”

How the actual fuck…?

“Wow, you have a sharp memory.”

“Well, my wardrobe almost exclusively includes hoodies, and I loved yours! I wanted to ask you where you got it, but it seemed inappropriate for some reason.”

You burst out laughing. “Why the heck would that be inappropriate?”

Chris seemed relieved that you were laughing. “I don’t know! People file complaints for all kinds of stuff these days. I guess I just didn’t wanna risk it.”

“Since you’re not my TA anymore I’m happy to report that it was from the place by the record store downtown.”

“Duly noted.”

It was incredible how easy it was to talk to him, as if you were friends for years. You acknowledged that you had a crush on him, but who didn’t really? It wasn’t like he could be involved with someone, much less a student, when he couldn’t even find the time to talk to his own brother. Maybe it was for the best to suppress these platonic feelings.

“I was the assistant for all the required classes for the past two years, though. I don’t remember seeing you after Music Theory.”

And just like that, your heart was showing the middle finger to your reasoning. He not only remembered you, but he also knew for how long he did NOT see you.

Were you reading too much into this?

“After that, I wanted to take some more practical classes. I’m not an actual student in this department. I’m a graphic design major.”

“Oh wow, that’s impressive! How do you even find the time to manage both?”

“I don’t. I _make_ the time to pursue my passion.”

Although he narrowed his eyes, a satisfied smile appeared on Chris’ lips. “You have no idea, but you gave me so much to think about.”

For some reason, you felt your face heating up again. “Anyhoo… Thank you so much for your help with the track! I think I should head back now.”

“My pleasure!” said Chris. Then plastered a cheeky smirk on his face. “Next time, don’t be afraid to ask questions, okay? I don’t bite.”

You stopped dead in your tracks, and responded in shock. “How did you…?”

“Take care camouflage girl,” Chris waved at you while looking at his screen. You smiled shyly, and left the studio.

Would it be extremely presumptuous to think Chris would like your compass piece if it were printed on a hoodie?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, please forgive the mistakes if you see any, and enjoy ^^


	3. Episode #3: Anatomy of a Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the fuck that confidence came from, you had no idea, but you could swear the color changed on Changbin’s cheeks. He was clearly thinking of a clapback, but you quickly got up on your feet not to give him a chance to retort. “Anyone want coffee?”
> 
> Jisung replied from the floor, “I don’t think Changbin hyung can drink anything besides cold water for the foreseeable future.”

“I will have you know that we don’t just make _tracks_ ; we produce _emotions_. Why waste that with this dumbassery?”

“J.One, I swear to god you’re so deep I can’t even see you!”

It was another Friday night with Stealers in your speakers. Changbin and Jisung were in such a heated discussion about emotion delivery that they completely hijacked the conversation for the past five minutes. Changbin was defending the idea that lyrics could completely change the intention of a song: the track could be “sad as fuck”, but you could have the listener burst out laughing if your lyrics contained humor. Jisung called this an “utter waste of effort”.

“I mean if you want to make your listeners laugh, just make a funny track, and stop disgracing my work!”

Although you really wanted to submit something for an episode, your fear held you back from doing it. You kept going back and forth all week long: You would hit “Compose” in your mailbox, attach the file, and right before hitting “Send” you would exit the entire page.

_Do it. DO IT! What’s the worst that can happen?_

The narrator from your inner mind theatre always replied dramatically.

_You could fucking die._

Thursday night, as you were struggling with the idea once again, Chris’ voice talked over your narrator’s: _Your anxiety is lying to you._

His voice echoing in your mind, you finally mustered up enough courage and hit send, followed by an immediate sense of regret. How come technology didn’t catch up with the needs of anxious people? If there was an “abort” button, you would have hit that ten times by now. You tried to calm down, reminding yourself that they probably wouldn’t even notice your track among all those e-mails they received.

As you were wondering whether Chris was ever going to interfere with Changbin and Jisung’s argument, he finally decided to do so.

“If I may kindly state an opinion, I think this is just a matter of style, and one way is not better than the other. So, let’s just stop here before I smack the living shit out of both of you. It’s time for another song break! We’ll be back after this.”

Following Chris’ voice, a melancholic melody with an upbeat tempo started filling your ears.

_Oh shit, no. No. Hell no. No no no no no no. FUCK NO!_

This was your track playing, but instead of pleasure, all you felt was panic. Why was he even playing this?

_He’s about to tell the entire audience that this is what a track is NOT supposed to sound like._

After a very long three minutes, the track finally ended. You involuntarily held your breath until someone started talking.

“This wasn’t on our playlist for today,” said Changbin in a somewhat surprised tone.

Of course it wasn’t. Why would it be anyway?

“I added it this morning as it was a last-minute submission. So? What did you think?”

_Oh my god, it’s happening._

The whole situation was like a car accident. You wanted to stop listening, but at the same time you couldn’t bring yourself to turn off the stream. At that moment, Jisung’s voice made you jump in your seat.

“Frankly, I’m all up in my feelings right now, and there’s no way you can make me believe the producer did not intend to do just that.”

How come they weren’t tearing you to shreds right now?

“Spear?”

Changbin gave out a long sigh, “Well, I think it could be better at certain points, but I gotta say, it’s been a while since I felt things.”

“If the owner of this track is listening to us, I’d like to personally congratulate you for inducing a miracle.”

Chris’ comment made the trio – and you – chuckle. This wasn’t even close to the scenario you kept picturing in your head.

Chris continued, “You know what this track feels like? This is like a bike ride along the river on a summer night.”

The end result was a culmination of your night walks for the past couple of weeks. You tried your best to express the loneliness laced with the slightest hint of hope. Rather than the Stealers liking the song, the fact that “felt” something meant a lot to you. Maybe Chris was right; maybe your anxiety was indeed lying to you.

Jisung interrupted your thoughts, “That being said, I hope the producer is listening to us because I want them to hear this: I WILL sacrifice SpearB in a heartbeat if it means we’ll get more tracks like this from you.”

You had so many questions in your head: Should you have gone with a calmer tempo? Would it be better with lyrics? Would they choose a male or female vocal for this? How could you make this a “loop-worthy” track? This was Music Theory class all over again. What if your “friends” thought it was a stupid question? “Don’t be afraid to ask,” your professors would always say, “This is how you learn!” It was much, _much_ easier said than done, though.

You ended up just sighing, looking outside the window. It sure would be nice to have actual friends you could talk to about this stuff without anyone else prying into your conversation, verbal or written. Not to make any resolutions or anything, but maybe you could try to make at least one friend this year.

* * *

You usually hated Tuesdays – Tuesday mornings even more – but this semester it was different. You were auditing a class called “Music and Self”. Granted, it was just the early weeks, but you absolutely loved it! You came to the department two hours before the class to get some coffee to wake up, to finish reading an article, and to brighten your day a little if you could manage to spot a certain someone.

“Is this seat free?”

You were pretty used to it at this point. Because you hung out here alone all the time, there was always an extra chair at your table, and there was always someone asking to borrow it. Your eyes still glued to the screen you mumbled, “Go ahead”, gesturing the seat.

“Thanks! I won’t bother you, I promise. Everywhere else is full.”

The owner of the voice didn’t drag the chair away, but actually sat down across you. The unexpected move made you look up.

“Jisung?”

You were so surprised to see him that you uttered his name almost reflexively.

_Oh great… Now he’s gonna think I’m crazy._

He just smiled at you, visibly confused, “Um… Do we know each other? I’m terrible with faces.”

“No! No, we don’t. The podc… Um, never mind, sorry.”

Just as you turned back to your screen, Jisung commented in a smug tone, “Ah! Of course. I understand what’s happening here. You’ve also heard of the grand master of emotional trap, and now that you’ve finally seen him in the flesh, you’re starstruck. I get that all the time.”

If you had subtitles at that moment, it would read “confusion intensifies”. Could _he_ be the crazy one by any chance? He came closer as if he was about to tell you a secret, giving you the biggest puppy eyes you’d ever seen.

“I’m just kidding.”

You let out a snort, relieved that he just had a very odd sense of humor. He reassuringly laughed along with you, calming you down a bit.

“Well, it’s not fair that only one of us knows the other’s name, don’t you think?”

“Of course, grand master. I’m Y/N, and I’m incredibly humbled to witness your presence among us mortals.”

You could read the tiniest bit of embarrassment on Jisung’s face. He just _acted_ very confident, but you guessed he was the type that couldn’t even take a compliment.

“Hey, it doesn’t work when you say it.”

“Now that I think about it, the starstruck part _could_ be true, you know. I’ve listened to every single episode of Scene Stealers, and that’s why I felt like I already know you. Sorry if I came across as a stalker.”

Jisung smiled happily, and he looked almost surprised as if he didn’t know there were listeners.

“That’s… Wow, thank you!” was all he could manage to say.

You seized the opportunity to tease him immediately, “So even the grand masters can stutter like mere folk, huh? I have so much to learn from you oh mighty leader of the anti-dumbassery clan.”

Jisung burst out laughing, clapping his hands loudly. After the initial shock of seeing him in person, the conversation flowed much more naturally. It was just so comfortable to be around him, and you didn’t actually lie. It did feel like you knew him for a long time.

“So, how do you like the podcast so far?” he asked leaning back in his chair.

Oh, poor Jisung. If only he knew what a nerdgasm he just induced in you with this simple question.

“The show has been the highlight of my weeks, really. It feels like just kicking it with my friends, and the comment section is everything! I wish I could have more confidence to ask questions in front of an audience, though.”

Jisung furrowed his brows, and asked more seriously this time, “What do you mean? The comment section _is_ moderated by the way. As much as I’m anti-dumbassery, I’m also anti-dickheadery. You have nothing to be worried about.”

“Oh, it’s not that. I just have this thing where I always beat myself up about my own work. That’s why it took me two existential crises to send a track in the first place.”

“Oh yeah? Did we have a chance to play it?”

“Yes, just last episode actually. Mine was the last track you guys played.”

The smile completely vanished from Jisung’s face, and he straightened up in his seat. You were starting to get anxious, thinking he was about to say something uncalled for. You almost had a heart attack when he yelled, smashing his fist on the table in excitement.

“THAT WAS _YOU_?! WILL YOU FUCKING MARRY ME?”

You were uncontrollably laughing at his unfiltered self. You thought the Stealers were assuming some sort of a persona on the show, but Jisung being incredibly dramatic also in real life proved otherwise. You were sort of glad that they didn’t feel the need to hide anything.

“I appreciate the gesture, but I’m sure it wasn’t proposal-worthy.”

“Oh, I’m telling you, it _was._ You do realize that female producers are uncommonly rare, right? You’d think our program is fucking Mechanical Engineering or something. I’m usually clowned for liking emotionally charged stuff like that, but that track was…”

Jisung proceeded to do a chef’s kiss. You lit up at his enthusiasm, and did one of your tiny claps. He gave out a surprised chuckle at the somewhat juvenile gesture. You covered your flushed face in embarrassment.

“Ugh, the hands, right? I know it’s very childish, but I just do it unintentionally! It’s a long-time habit of mine.”

“Oh no, please! I’m not making fun of it. I’m only laughing because Chan hyung does that a lot, too. I haven’t seen anybody else clap like that besides him.”

 _Chan hyung._ You were so used to everyone swooning over the ever so cool “Chris” that this change of name felt much more… intimate? It was like only the people allowed to be affectionate with him would call him by that name. Hearing that you shared a trait with him – a trait that you were embarrassed about for that matter – tickled something inside you.

“I thought you were just co-hosts.”

“Nah, I’m more like his adopted child. He’s roommates with my sworn enemy.”

“Your what now?”

“Changbin hyung. If you’ve ever seen a dude walking around with his personal dark cloud, that’s him”.

“I thought you guys were best friends.”

“That’s what I said.”

In a span of only half an hour, Jisung managed to make you laugh more than you did in an entire semester. You were glad that he also seemed to enjoy your company. You remembered his vulnerable side from one of the earlier episodes, which made you like him even more. You knew there was much more to him than just comedic relief. You realized all this time you were scared over nothing, and that you could actually become friends with him. He seemed like he would welcome this idea, as well.

“Speaking of which, how come I’ve never seen you in a class before?”

You went through the same explanation you had for Chris: different major, auditing classes only.

“I do have ‘Music & Self’ an hour later, though.”

“Hey, Changbin hyung and I take that class, too! He didn’t come to the syllabus week, though. He’s gonna be so surprised when he realizes who you are.”

You fidgeted in your seat, “Actually, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell him.”

Jisung gave you a concerned look. Then, he answered the very question he was about to ask:

“You think he’s gonna assume you’re just fangirling, right?”

Your face flushed, and you looked down at your fingers. Jisung gave you one of his comforting smiles, “I understand why you would think that, but since you don’t want me to say anything, I’m not going to.” He gestured zipping his lips and winked at you. All you could manage to do was whispering a “Thank you.”

“So, it’s settled. We’re going thru it together this semester.”

You nodded with a smile. You wanted to ask Jisung another question – dying to ask was more like it – but you were hesitating for the exact same reason you didn’t want him to reveal your identity to Changbin. Just this once, you decided to take a leap of faith, and went for it:

“There’s… There’s something I want to ask, but I’m… I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

Jisung took a very loud sip from his iced americano, “Ask away my dear subject. I promise to only judge you behind your back.”

You inadvertently chuckled at his comment, “If there is going to be any judgement, I’d better…”

“Oh shit, no! I was only kidding! I gotta be clearer, sorry.”

You took a deep breath and finally scratched the itch in your brain.

“I really respect Chris’ opinion, and I do want to ask for feedback on my work. But I’m just… I don’t… I don’t want him to think… I don’t want _you_ to think…”

Every single word – at least what you were _trying to_ say – was true. Yes, the crush was still there, but more than that you admired Chris’ work ethic, his ideation process, his catalog of work, his lyricism… “his entire artistry” was more like it. The last thing you would want Jisung to think right now was that you were being friendly to him just to approach Chris.

“Chris’ opinion… Really?” He didn’t say _Chan hyung_ , and that wasn’t a question; that was more like “questioning” your intention. Jisung raised an eyebrow and studied your face for a while. All of a sudden, he started bombarding you with questions as if you were doing some sort of a lightning round:

“So, which musician is he obsessed with?”

“The Weeknd, but…”

“What breed is his dog?”

“His what now?”

“Who did he reference in ‘P.A.C.E.’?”

“Skepta. Wh-“

“What’s his favorite coffee brand?”

“How should I know?”

”What type of beat did he try in ‘Broken Compass’?”

“Reggaeton. Why…?”

“When is his birthday?”

“I don’t know. July?”

“Who was he influenced by in ‘Crypto’?”

“He didn’t release such a track. What the fuck are you trying to do?!”

“I mean I had a feeling you’d pass but damn, you’re legit!” he exclaimed with wide eyes. “I sincerely apologize for doing that to you. I’ve been told I’m too trusting, so it sort of became like a two-step authentication among us.”

“Authentication for _what_ exactly?”

“What you were r _eally_ interested in,” he said casually. “Chan hyung is _incredibly_ passionate when it comes to his music, and his life basically revolves around that. Most people cannot answer _one_ question about his work, but they somehow know his Chinese zodiac along with his entire genealogy.”

You _were_ kind of offended, and as much as you wanted to say, _‘This is exactly why I didn’t want you to tell jack shit to Changbin’,_ deep inside you understood the reason. Who knew how many people they had to deal with over superficial stuff, causing them to be so done with people? Maybe you were actually spot-on with your assumption that people frequently approached one of them to get closer to the others for… you know.

To your surprise, Jisung actually encouraged you. “I say be brave and go for it! I’d understand if it was Changbin hyung. He is very blunt and a borderline asshole, but I think he’s just like that because he is embarrassed to admit he was raised by wolves. But you have nothing to be afraid of with Chan hyung.”

He was so reassuring throughout his entire talk, and he kept smiling, almost apologetically for doubting your intentions. Just like that, you felt your annoyance melting away. His smile was so infectious that you ended up smiling back to him.

“Actually, there is something I want to ask you, too.”

This caught you off guard. Nevertheless, you replied as casually as you could manage, “Sure. How can I be of service to the grand master?”

“You wanna work on something together?”

* * *

The other day, Jisung introduced you to Changbin officially, referring to you as “the lord and savior of this class”, and Changbin as “1 of the 3RACHA”. Per your request, Jisung didn’t tell him that you were actually Verse Killer. Changbin indeed had a colder exterior compared to Jisung, but you didn’t take that personally. You had a group assignment for the following week: a playlist creation and a paper on emotion delivery based on the playlist. On Thursday afternoon, you met Jisung and Changbin at the studio they had reserved at the department. You were going to take turns listening to each other’s playlists and discuss them.

Jisung’s playlist was, to say the least, all over the place. Five songs into the playlist, Changbin started rubbing his temples:

“Jisung… In a matter of ten minutes we have listened to four different genres, and one of them was Tuvan throat singing. What the hell is this man?”

Jisung had a dead serious expression on his face, “My heart”.

You tried your best to translate Changbin’s question back into Jisungese, “I think what he means to ask is what emotion do you want us to feel exactly?”

Jisung shrugged, “I don’t know. I just put this together based on how I felt at the moment. It wasn’t based on a single feeling.”

Changbin scoffed, “Sorry, but all I’m hearing is an existential crisis. This needs to be coherent. Listen to this.”

Changbin started playing the tracks on his own playlist. It was a compilation of smooth & cool jazz pieces. You really didn’t expect him to a) be this serious about an assignment, and b) like jazz since he struck you as more of a gangsta rap kind of guy. Apparently, these guys were going to keep surprising you.

Leaning back in your chair, you closed your eyes listening to the relaxing melodies filling the studio. Changbin was only playing 15-second samples of the tracks rather than the entire playlist. After a couple of songs, something quite upbeat started playing. You shot your eyes open, sitting up.

“Oh, this is interesting. Who’s the artist?”

“It’s one of my own.”

What was more surprising than Changbin liking jazz was that he produced a track with jazz influences. As you kept listening, you just blurted out without even thinking, “I think a trap melody would be incredible with this.”

Changbin looked at you almost in awe, “Hot AND knows her stuff? Are you currently seeing anyone?”

Jisung groaned in response, “Oh for fuck’s sake, could you not be a colossal dick for like ten seconds? You’re going to scare away my only friend in this room.”

Changbin looked visibly offended, “Um, hello, am I a joke to you?”

Jisung scoffed, “Most of the time, but more than that werewolves don’t qualify as people hyung.”

Changbin smacked Jisung in the head with a folder, and you just laughed at their bickering. Honestly, you didn’t even take Changbin’s question seriously, “It’s fine. I don’t think he actually meant that.”

Changbin took a break from attempting to choke Jisung and turned to you, “Why is that? I’m dead serious.”

“Because if you were, you wouldn’t be this forward.”

“You don’t even know me,” Changbin said raising an eyebrow.

You saw his smug expression and raised it with a smirk, “That’s true, but I highly doubt a person actively avoiding human interaction can boldly make an advance on someone, which means I’m just a pawn in your power game.” You flashed a bright smile as if you didn’t say what you just said, and Jisung was hollering with laughter. Where the fuck that confidence came from, you had no idea, but you could swear the color changed on Changbin’s cheeks. He was clearly thinking of a clapback, but you quickly got up on your feet not to give him a chance to retort. “Anyone want coffee?”

Jisung replied from the floor, “I don’t think Changbin hyung can drink anything besides cold water for the foreseeable future.”

Changbin smiled and bit his lips, admitting defeat. As you were leaving, you seized the opportunity to tease Changbin some more, and you turned back to whisper in his ear, “You know, if you just said you didn’t need to play games to overpower me, that would have shut me up”.

Changbin turned to look at you with wide eyes, and Jisung was laughing so hard he wheezed, “Hyung, you’re fucked. I want her around all the time!”

Teasing Changbin was a great stress reliever, and incredibly fun. Now you understood why Chris and Jisung were busting his balls all the time. You brought back a large hot chocolate as a peace offering to Changbin, and the rest of your study session went by mostly focused on work. Jisung acting as a catalyst between you two, Changbin was much more comfortable around you by the end. You exchanged e-mails to send each other your sections of the paper, and agreed to meet on Monday for review.

After your study session was over, you felt like your social bar was full after a long while. These dorks were really growing on you, and in reality they were a far cry from the mean monsters you pictured them to be. You decided to pay a tribute to your new friends tonight. You went home to change into your “tag attire”: oversized black hoodie with black pants and a face mask. You decided to have the design you made for Chris printed on a hoodie for yourself since you were never going to be able to give this to him. You were wearing it for the first time that day.

You went to your usual “turf” along the bike trail, and picked a spot away from the prying eyes. Today’s tag read “Scene Stealers” in red and black with the number 3 in the background and a messy crown on top. You added VK on the bottom right corner as your signature. You snapped a quick picture after you were done, and went to a bench nearby overlooking the river. You wanted to rest for a while before heading home. You removed the hood and the mask, and started listening to the music playing in the distance with closed eyes. You took a deep breath and nodded your head to the beat with a content smile.

“No camouflage today?”

“What the f-!”

You almost flatlined due to the unexpected voice right behind you.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you! Are you okay?”

Chris threw his bike on the grass to come closer to check up on you. Great, now you had arrhythmia for two different reasons.

“I’m… I’m fine, but you _did_ scare the crap out of me just now.”

He was kneeling in front of you, looking up to get a better view of your face.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked again apologetically.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to file a complaint. You still have job security,” you said smiling back. He let out a relieved laugh that you were able to crack jokes. He sat on the ground in front of you. You realized you really missed him.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

“Oh, I like going on bike rides at night. I could ask the same for you actually. It’s pretty late.”

You panicked for a second because you wanted to keep your semi-fangirling activities for yourself. You didn’t quite lie though, “Well, I don’t own a bike, but I like going on night walks.” You looked at the city silhouette in the distance, “The river calms me down.”

“It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Chris sighed looking behind him. Then, he turned his gaze back to you. “So? Record-store-adjacent boutique again?” he asked pointing at your top.

“Oh this? Actually, this time this is my own design.”

“Shut up! That’s fucking amazing!” he exclaimed. He sounded genuinely impressed, which made you embarrassed a little. You almost did the tiny clap again, but you managed to stop yourself at the last second, remembering what Jisung said earlier that week.

_Chan hyung does that a lot, too._

“So what does the ‘For C’ stand for?

“Excuse me?”

“There, at the bottom corner.”

_OH JESUS FUCKING CHRIST Y/N!_

You completely forgot to remove the little indicator that this design was intended for Chris. You had to come up with something believable right that very second.

“Oh… OH! That… This was a design for the Composition class. I totally forgot to delete that.”

“No worries. I think it gives the design character.”

You laughed nervously. Although you could spend hours with Chris hanging out at your favorite spot, it was indeed late. It was time to go back.

“Well, as much as I’d like to talk about my design fails, I should get going. I have an 8:30 class tomorrow.”

“As soon as I own a ride, I will offer to give you one, I promise. But until then, can I walk you home instead?”

Your heart dropped to your stomach, doing multiple backflips on the way. He didn’t just say what you thought he said, right? Your voice threatened to crack but you managed to produce a relatively stable voice.

“Sure.”

You stood up to wear your backpack, and the spray paint cans inside clinked as you did. You started walking a little ahead while Chris was picking up his bike from the ground. He looked a couple of feet behind at the “Scene Stealers” tag, and started to pick up the pace behind you with a smile plastered on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yellow~  
> Seeing people actually reading (or just taking a look at) this story, leaving kudos, and even bookmarking it makes absolutely no sense to me! Thank you! Seriously, THANK you. I appreciate you for giving me a tiny piece of motivation to keep going. It makes my day.
> 
> Heads up: Incoming "good stuff" in the next episode because we're all trash for "I AM YOU" era Chan.  
> If not, we should be.


End file.
